Is it true that snacking makes fat?

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Snacking is an activity that is liked by most people. Snacking can make us better in any situation, somehow this can happen. A variety of snacks are available, ranging from healthy snacks to unhealthy snacks, such as snacks with empty calories that contain lots of fat. However, many people still prefer this unhealthy snack. Yes, it feels really good to enjoy.

Various snacks can accompany us in carrying out activities, especially activities that spend time in front of the screen, such as watching TV, playing video games, working in front of a computer, and so on. To the extent that you might not be aware if this snacking habit has made you fat.

Our bodies also need snacks

Maybe not all snacking habits can make you experience weight gain which leads to obesity. It all depends on your snacking habits, whether you are used to snacking with healthy snacks or not, based on expert explanations at the 2011 Annual Meeting and Food Expo in The Institute of Food Technologists in New Orleans, reported from MedicineNet.

Basically, snacking or eating distant food is needed to supplement the body's nutritional needs. According to Richard D. Mattes, PhD, a professor of food and nutrition at Purdue University, West Lafayette, Ind. Snacking is not about healthy or unhealthy snacks, but rather what you eat and how these foods can meet your nutritional needs. Habits of snacking that contain lots of calories and not being balanced by consuming less food at other times or increasing physical activity can cause weight gain.

So, snacking should not be avoided, even actually needed to meet the body's needs. Only thing that must be considered is the size and type of snack. Many nutritionists recommend eating healthy snacks between large meals in small portions, so that the body energizes throughout the day.

What kind of snacking causes obesity?

Snacking can cause obesity if what you eat exceeds your body's needs in the long term.

1. Types of snacks

Most people prefer to snack food or soft drinks that contain high calories, almost contributing to a quarter of an individual's calorie needs. In Indonesia alone, it has become a habit for people to eat fried foods that contain flour and high fat from oil, and contain empty calories. Even this has become a culture, where every time there is an activity, for example a meeting, guests are treated to snacks, said Grace Judio-Kahl, a physician physiologist and observer of lifestyle, reported by health.kompas.com.

So, it is not surprising that unhealthy snacking habits can cause you to gain weight even obesity.

2. What is done while snacking

In addition, one more thing that you should avoid when snacking is to do it while watching television. Many studies have shown that there is a relationship between television front snacking with weight gain or obesity.

A 2011 study by Pearson showed that eating while watching TV can cause individuals to make poor eating choices and overeating. Teenagers who watch TV more than 2 hours a day consume more snacks that are high in calories, such as chips and soda, and consume fewer snacks that are low in calories, such as fruit and water, compared to teens who watch less television. As a result, teens who watch more TV have an additional 106 calories than teens who rarely watch TV.

People who like watching TV tend to be disturbed when eating so that they are not aware of how much food they consume, causing it to overeat. Increased food consumption can also be caused because you eat without thinking, which occurs when eating signals from the outside, such as from images and sounds while you are watching TV, cover up the eating signals from within you (the true feeling of hunger and satiety). So, when watching TV, you don't recognize the true feeling of hunger and fullness, you don't realize how much food you have eaten.

As in a University of Birmingham study conducted to see how attention and memory affect food intake, concluding that being distracted when eating or not paying attention to the food you eat can make people eat more, and pay attention to eating when it comes to eating less in others time.

When you are not aware of what has happened to your mouth, your brain also does not process that information, so you do not remember if you have eaten. This makes you eat again and again, as a result you will experience weight gain and obesity.

So, you should focus your attention when eating, avoid eating while doing other activities, so you realize when your body feels full and also aware of what and how much food you have eaten.

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